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Contents contributed and discussions participated by Gene Ellis

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Gene Ellis

Foxconn Tries to Move Beyond Apple's Shadow - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...move-beyond-apples-shadow.html

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  • Gene Ellis on 10 Jan 14
     
    "perils"
  • Gene Ellis on 10 Jan 14
     
    "perils"
Gene Ellis

Buiter: Most European banks are zombies | Credit Writedowns - 0 views

www.creditwritedowns.com/...uropean-banks-are-zombies.html

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  • The second big takeaway comes from the article’s title. Buiter thinks most European banks are zombies that need to be recapitalized or resolved. In most cases this can be done by haircutting senior and subordinated bondholders only.
Gene Ellis

Foxconn Audit Reveals Workweek Still Too Long - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...s-workweek-still-too-long.html

labor treatment

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  • Foxconn, part of the Taiwan-based company Hon Hai Precision Industry, employs about 178,000 workers at the three factories inspected. It has about 1.2 million workers at plants making products for Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Microsoft and other technology companies.
  • He noted that Foxconn has also overhauled many processes, including using robots instead of people to polish the aluminum backs of iPad cases and water to capture and dispose of the resulting dust.
Gene Ellis

U.S. Pressure Rises to End Bangladesh Trade Status - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...d-bangladesh-trade-status.html

u s pressure bangladesh trade status nytimes

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  • Bangladesh’s garment sector represents roughly $19 billion in annual revenue and employs nearly four million workers, most of them women. It sells more than $4.5 billion worth of goods to the United States each year. 
Gene Ellis

China's Economic Empire - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...chinas-economic-empire.html

Chinese lending

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  • China has also invested heavily in building infrastructure, undertaking huge hydroelectric projects like the Merowe Dam on the Nile in Sudan — the biggest Chinese engineering project in Africa — and Ecuador’s $2.3 billion Coca Codo Sinclair Dam. And China is currently involved in the building of more than 200 other dams across the planet, according to International Rivers, a nonprofit environmental organization.
  • China has become the world’s leading exporter; it also surpassed the United States as the world’s biggest trading nation in 2012.
  • annual investment from China to the European Union grew from less than $1 billion annually before 2008 to more than $10 billion in the past two years. And in the United States, investment surged from less than $1 billion in 2008 to a record high of $6.7 billion in 2012, according to the Rhodium Group, an economic research firm. Last year, Europe was the destination for 33 percent of China’s foreign direct investment.
Gene Ellis

Why India Trails China - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...why-india-trails-china.html

Why India trails

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  • Gene Ellis on 10 Jan 14
     
    A.K. Sen
Gene Ellis

Gas Prices Moving Away From Link to Oil - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...ing-away-from-link-to-oil.html

oil

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  • That leaves buyers with enormous risk. Oil, which sold for as little as $10 a barrel in the 1990s, when some current contracts were agreed, now costs about $100 per barrel,
  • “Anyone with standard oil-linked contracts is likely losing money in Europe and specifically Italy,
  • Gas bought under such contracts can be 10 percent to 15 percent more expensive than gas bought at spot market prices, he said. Over the past year, Eni's gas and power unit has reported an operating loss of about €812 million, or $1 billion.
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  • “These are not easy discussions,” Mr. Alverà said. “Most sellers are reluctant to sit down and give you big discounts. The more they wait the more they increase their profits.”
  • Still, analysts say it may take decades for Asia to switch from oil linkage to market pricing.
Gene Ellis

Utilities Switch Off Investment in Fossil Fuel Plants - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...ent-in-fossil-fuel-plants.html

utilities switch investment fossil fossil fuel fuel plants

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    • Gene Ellis
      Gene Ellis on 10 Jan 14
       
      Note:  a LARGE power station =s 40 direct jobs.
  • workers at the large power station known as Keadby 1 are preparing to shut it down at the end of the summer, with the loss of about 40 jobs.
  • fluctuations in global energy markets have made the natural gas power plant unprofitable
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • It has also delayed new energy investments and is planning to close almost a quarter of its fossil fuel power plants,
  • European energy companies, struggling to respond to weak demand in a flatlining economy, say they need guaranteed pricing to keep open unprofitable plants or to invest in new ones.
  • Their revenue is being hit by dwindling demand for electricity and by new wind and solar projects that undercut the price of the energy produced from many fossil fuel plants.
  • At the same time, record-low prices on carbon emissions trading markets, which were introduced to encourage clean and efficient energy production and use, have perversely become a disincentive to investment.
  • Many of the Continent’s aging power stations, particularly those that burn highly polluting coal, are earmarked for closure by 2020 to meet stringent local environment regulations.
  • Without these investments, industrial companies in Europe may face higher energy prices when local economies eventually recover,
  • “Energy utilities are facing a perfect storm,”
  • In a bid to generate 20 percent of the European Union’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020, Germany, Spain and other E.U. countries have provided hefty subsidies to wind and solar farms, which now constitute a sizable minority of daily electricity generation, often surpassing the 20 percent target.
    • Gene Ellis
      Gene Ellis on 10 Jan 14
       
      In effect, a cheaper overall form of energy (non-renewables) had to compete with heavy subsidies to renewables, which, once built, had low operating costs.  They cannot compete and do not invest, and there are major problems w/investing more in renewables (they are overall more expensive, and they have built-in faults, producing electricity erratically, or during the wrong times.)  The high costs of energy also lie with government, who cemented long-term deals with the ex-USSR linking other energy prices to the price of oil.  In short, they shot themselves in the foot.  Several times.
  • European utilities like E.On of Germany have announced plans to shut down less-polluting natural gas-fired plants that have been undercut by dirtier coal-burning generators benefiting from a flood of low-cost coal imports and low carbon emissions prices.
  • Despite the upfront costs associated with green energy projects, they are inexpensive to run. In contrast, Europe’s gas and coal plants, which also provide backup power when renewables cannot operate, need constant spending on fossil fuels.
  • Policy makers are debating a system of support payments to keep uneconomic power plants open,
  • “Without long-term signals of energy prices, investment won’t happen.”
  • Some analysts also expect domestic regulators to eventually create financial incentives for companies
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